When you’re balancing a business with home commitments it can sometimes feel like there are not enough hours in the day to get it all done. Maybe you’re drowning in a never-ending to-do list or you’re finding it hard to set boundaries between work time and family time. Life can get busy.
Good time management habits can help you make efficient use of the time you have and build a business that leaves you feeling happy, not stressed.
Whether you’re looking to be the next productivity ninja or regain a few hours in your day to get the most important things done, use these efficient time management tips to help you get a jump start.
Time blocking
A popular time management technique, time blocking makes you see your time as a limited resource and identify areas where you might be wasting your time. Anytime you need to do a task, the key is to block it out of your calendar and set a finite amount of time to complete it.
If you allocate 60 minutes to do calls for your business each day, this is uninterrupted time and free of other obligations. Blocking out each hour of your day can help focus your attention on the most important tasks and balance responsibilities between work and home.
If you find tasks falling through the cracks, you’ll be able to identify where your time is being wasted. Or, if you need to meet home commitments you can reorganize and adapt your schedule.
And don’t forget to tell others around you that you’re time blocking! This can help keep away unwanted distractions.
Set a daily goal
One of the biggest time management mistakes is when everything is important, then nothing is important enough to get done. Focusing on one task for the day can help you move forward faster than multi-tasking on ten different priorities.
Set your daily goal the night before, write it down and make it achievable for the day. Then block out time to get it done.
Create a to-do list and prioritize wisely
It’s easy to forget things if we haven’t written them down. A key time management tip is to organize your to-do list so you can easily identify the most important responsibilities. The best part is you can cross things off as you progress.
Make use of inactive time
Do you ever find yourself on the train for an hour staring out of the window? Or sitting in traffic on your way home? When it comes to successful time management, inactive time is valuable time that can be put to productive use.
It could involve completing a quick task on your to-do list or reading a book to help you learn a new skill. There’s always an opportunity to capitalize on it whether you choose to do active or passive activities.
At any given moment, you own your time and can take steps to be more efficient with time management.
